12 Simple Ways to Live More Sustainably

These 12 simple ways to live more sustainably make living greener a no brainer.  Mother Earth provides us with so many life giving functions, without it we cannot survive, so it only makes sense to look after it.  This doesn’t mean you need to run out and join sea shepherd or become a hippy.  If you want to, awesome, but there are so many small things you can do that, if everyone did them, would make such a difference to the health of our planet.

Somewhere along the line us humans have lost touch with ourselves and along with it our connection with Mother Earth.  This loss of connection and an increased sense of entitlement and pursuit of a better life has fueled our insatiable need to consume.  To get the next bigger and better thing, to get a fancy car, make more money, and prove our worth by our possessions and status.  As a result of this our poor planet has been poisoned, stripped bare and largely ignored beyond our assessment of what we can take from it.  I wish I could say I was not part of this, but unfortunately I can’t.  Most of us are guilty of this to some extent.

Our fast paced lives and throw away society also contributes to the damage.  Single use products, packaged processed food and convenience products designed to save us time don’t’ really save us that much time in reality and contribute to the 3 billion tonnes of plastic waste generated each year in Australia.  And whats even worse is that up to 130,000 tonnes of this winds up in the ocean. (Source).

Small changes can make BIG differences

Much damage to our planet is now so significant it just can’t be ignored.  We must all take steps to reduce our impact.  These don’t have to be massive undertakings, like building an eco home, or buying a hydrogen fueled car.  Small changes can make BIG differences.

Making changes to reduce your impact on the planet in most cases is not time consuming or uber expensive.  Setting up a compost bin can be done in no time at all for less than $50.  Collecting your scraps into a tub and putting in the compost bin rather than the garbage only takes a few minutes at most.  Carrying reusable cutlery and straws takes no effort at beyond remembering to actually use them.

If you do just one new thing at a time to reduce your impact on the planet you will find it easier to implement.  Once something becomes so part of your day to day life you no longer think about it, it is now a habit, it’s time to look at the next step you can take.  Pretty painless hey?

12 simple Ways to Live More Sustainably

These 12 simple Ways to Live More Sustainably are easy to adopt and many can actually save you money.  Remember start with just one or two and when they become habit, add something new.

1. Start a Compost Bin

Starting a compost bin,worm farm, or join a compost collecting service like Kooda.  You can also add cardboard, paper, tissues etc to your compost bins, allowing you to reduce the waste that needs to be managed offsite.  And the bonus is your gardens get to benefit from the nutrients.

2. Buy as local as possible

Reduce your food miles.  If you can, buy Australian rather than imported products.  Supporting local businesses not only benefits the planet but also your community, two reasons to feel good.

3. Reduce your food waste

Try meal planning, juicing or concoct fridge clean out meals to reduce the food you throw away.  Freeze fruit and veg that are getting close to going bad.

4. Buy fresh produce from farmers markets

Reduce food miles AND support your local farmers and community!  Plus the food is so much fresher than what you get in a supermarket and picked at optimal ripeness – giving you maximum nutrients.

5. Replace synthetic cloths and brushes with natural fibers

Replace petroleum based plastic sponges and scourers with natural compostable alternative like these ecomax brushes or cellulose based sponges.

6. Use reusable food wraps

There are a number of reusable food wrap options now available to replace plastic wrap and aluminum foil.  Beeswax wraps are a great option and can found everywhere or you can make your own. There are also elasticated bowl lids, reusable pouches and snack bags.

7. Reduce your single use food packaging

Carry a reusable coffee cup, stainless steel straw and cutlery – or just slow down and dine in.  It can even be as simple as saying no to a straw, yes it’s only a small thing but it all counts.  Work on reducing your consumption of packaged processed food, this is good for the planet and great for your health.

8. Reduce plastic bag use

Most states in Australia have now banned single use plastic bags which is great.  You can go even further and get yourself some reusable produce bags and use proper long life reusable shopping bags, rather than just “thicker” plastic bags.  You can even get reusable bread bags now too.

9. Recycle soft plastics

Collect your soft plastics and drop off at a supermarket has soft plastic recycling collection bins you can use.  It’s amazing at how much of your waste is soft plastics.

10. Re-purpose

Find new ways to use your waste.  Use jars and bottles to carry your lunch, store leftovers or used in the pantry.  Egg cartons make great seedling raising trays.  Newspapers are fantastic to suppress weeds.  You are only limited by your imagination.

11. Grow your own food

Try your hand at growing your own salad greens or herbs.  This not only reduces the food miles to zero, but it potentially reduces food waste from fast spoiling produce.  Plus they will be super fresh and super nutrient dense when you eat them, rather than having been in cold storage for days, weeks or even months!  And you can feed them with your compost.

12. Get things repaired

Rather than just throwing something out, try to see if it can be repaired.  You will feel great for not contributing to our throw away society.  Plus you will more than likely save yourself some cash too!